Friday, September 13

How To Enter a {Blog} Giveaway

It's recently come to my attention that not everybody knows how to enter a blog giveaway. When I first found this world of bloggers and giveaways, I had a lot of questions. I followed the example of other readers as to how to enter different giveaways but always figured I was missing an important piece. Well, I think I've figured it out. And I'd like to share some of what I've learned with you!

Let's start with the basics. There are some bloggers who make it easy to enter the giveaways they host. All they ask is that you 'leave a comment below'. Pretty self explanatory, right? Sometimes, though, in order to leave a comment on a blog, you have to sign in. Usually this just means leaving some contact info like your name, email address, etc. Each blogger chooses how to let readers leave comments, so just follow the prompts and you'll be set!

Now some bloggers host giveaways from a third party. For instance, Little Chief Honeybee could host a giveaway sponsored by ShoeMint. This means that the prize will be from ShoeMint and LCH is spreading the word. In cases like this, you might be asked to click over to the sponsors website, look around and find something you love, then come back to the host (important!) and leave a comment about what you found. This is just one more quick, easy step in order to enter and it gives both blogs some traffic. Plus, you get to window shop for a good cause - winning free stuff! :)

Have you ever seen a giveaway that says you can enter by sharing on Facebook? Yeah! Here's the best way to do that: First, click on the title of that blog post. You'll see the web address change but you'll stay on the same post. This is the direct address to the giveaway post. With this little trick, you're sharing just the giveaway, not every post on that blog. Now copy that link and share in onto Facebook. Got it? Good. Now, go back to the blog that's hosting and leave a comment there. If you only share on Facebook but don't leave a comment on the blog saying you did so, the writer won't know you did and won't be able to include that entry into the running!! Another Facebook entry might be to ‘Like’ that blogger’s FB page. Follow the links to their page and click ‘Like’, then head back over to the blog and leave another comment!

Pinterest. It’s a great place to find pretty things but also a hot spot to be found! If a blogger asks you to ‘Pin This Giveaway’, it’s a chance for them to gain exposure. So help them out by clicking on the title of the giveaway post (just like you read above) and click you ‘Pin It’ button up there near your browser. Done! Now go back to the blog and comment, letting them know you did so. A blogger might also ask you to follow them on Pinterest as a giveaway entry. Just click over to their Pinterest account and then click the ‘follow all’ button. That’s it, you’re following! Now guess what? Go back and leave a comment on the blog! Are you seeing a pattern? ;)

So we’ve covered the basic ‘leave a comment’ entry. Easy peasy! I told you about third party giveaways, Facebook sharing and liking, and Pinterest pinning and following. The biggest thing is to go back to the blog after browsing, sharing, liking, pinning, or following and leave a comment!

Let's practice these new tricks! Here's a short list of blogs I follow that are having giveaways this week. If there's a blogger you read who's hosting a giveaway, share their website in the comments and we can all join in on the fun!